Today the fight against school shootings is marked by the recent judgment and sentencing of the Parkland School Shooter. Whatever our idea of justice is put to the test today. Should justice be life in prison, or should justice be capital punishment? The jury, representing our justice system, decided on a life in prison. Most people in the public square have raised their arms in protest of this decision. I acknowledged the anger from both sides, but I focused on something more personal to me. One thing is clear; many tears were being cried today in that courtroom. We had a glimpse into the courtroom, like watching through a crack in the wall. The trauma this event caused is still causing ripples throughout our society and our country. I will be honest; watching the parents still mourning their children was very hard. There was a transparent, evident pain that I am not sure would change regardless of the trial’s outcome.
This remark is one of my most significant takeaways as a parent: “We have to find a way to prevent these horrible events!” It is clear to me that these shootings’ damage is unrepairable. We must face reality; once these events occur, there is no grand amount of strategy that can “fix” anything. No law enforcement intervention would suffice for the local community. No court in the country will apply sufficient justice for all. These events will undoubtedly leave us damaged, broken, and with an unhealing wound.
What I saw in that courtroom today was precisely that, damaged, broken, and wounded people. I can’t deny that for a brief moment, I experienced their trauma as if it was my own. In World War I, the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers described a reaction to the intensity of the soldiers’ bombardment and fighting. He saw a sense of helplessness, being scared, and being unable to reason, sleep, walk or talk. These symptoms and reactions he described as Shell-Schock Syndrome. Part of the reason he coined this term was that soldiers would have a “thousand yard” or blank stare that gave the impression that the person was no longer the same. Of course, this trauma syndrome is known today as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
As a society, we have been traumatized too many times by these horrific events. At times, we seem to be in this Shell-Schock state of mind, and we are no longer there. Our essence as a community, society, and country appears to vanish. We are here to tell you it doesn’t have to be this way. We must shift our focus and resources away from the remedy and into developing the prevention. This violence is cancer in our society, metastasizing and infecting every state, district, and the local community. Like every cancer, we must know the signs, recognize its behavior, establish meaningful screening and find the potential aggressors before they make these decisions. The time has come to finish this fight to stop the bleeding. We can no longer pretend the remedy is coming or hope our legal system or law enforcement will surgically remove this cancer.
The time has come for us to unite as a community and fight to prevent school shootings. While I examine this moment in the fight, I remember the quote from our fellow Texan and Professor, Brené Brown: “What we don’t need in the midst of struggle is shame for being human.” With this in mind, I say: “In the middle of the struggle, let’s not be overwhelmed by its sadness, but let’s transform it into action for those who have lost.”
